Data for 2008

Participatory Democracy Index, 2008

Name: Participatory Democracy Index, 2008
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2008, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's Participatory Democracy Index asks how far citizens take part in politics beyond electing representatives — through civil society organisations, referendums and citizens' initiatives, and elected local and regional government — while also requiring genuine national elections. It runs from 0 to 1, and a higher figure is more democratic.

Participatory Democracy Index, 2008 covers 175 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.797; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.009. The middle country reads 0.318. Against 2007, 142 values changed (65 up, 77 down), the same countries are covered.

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Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 2008

HighestSwitzerland

0.797

LowestEritrea

0.009

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

175countries
1measure
2008the year it describes
154distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Participatory Democracy Index, 2008, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Participatory Democracy Index, 2008: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.797
2	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.740
3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.710
4	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.698
5	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.694
6	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.684
7	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.675
8	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.670
9	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.659
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.656
11	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.655
12	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.654
13	United States`USA`Northern America	0.653
14	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.651
=15	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.649
=15	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.649
17	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.646
18	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.644
19	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.640
20	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.637
=21	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.633
=21	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.633
23	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.632
24	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.631
25	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.630
26	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.628
27	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.625
28	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.622
29	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.619
=30	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.614
=30	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.614
32	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.601
33	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.595
34	Chile`CHL`South America	0.592
35	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.568
36	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.563
37	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.561
38	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.559
39	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.551
40	Peru`PER`South America	0.536
41	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.527
42	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.519
43	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.516
44	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.514
45	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.506
46	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.488
47	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.487
48	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.480
49	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.475
50	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.473
51	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.471
=52	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.469
=52	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.469
54	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.466
55	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.463
56	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.445
57	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.429
58	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.428
59	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.415
60	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.411
61	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.410
62	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.406
63	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.404
=64	Colombia`COL`South America	0.402
=64	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.402
66	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.400
67	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.398
68	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.387
69	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.385
70	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.381
71	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.375
72	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.369
73	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.359
74	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.358
75	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.353
76	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.352
77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.348
=78	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.344
=78	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.344
80	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.343
81	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.342
=82	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.340
=82	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.340
84	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.330
85	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.327
86	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.324
87	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.319
88	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.318
=89	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.315
=89	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.315
91	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.310
92	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.309
93	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.308
94	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.306
95	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.302
96	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.290
=97	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.289
=97	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.289
99	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.285
100	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.280
101	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.275
102	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.272
103	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.270
104	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.267
=105	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.263
=105	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.263
=107	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.253
=107	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.253
109	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.249
110	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.241
111	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.240
112	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.236
113	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.233
114	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.229
115	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.226
116	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.223
117	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.211
118	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.203
=119	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.202
=119	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.202
121	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.197
122	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.191
123	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.186
=124	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.182
=124	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.182
126	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.181
127	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.178
128	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.169
=129	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.168
=129	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.168
131	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.157
132	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.155
133	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.152
134	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.148
135	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.147
136	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.144
137	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.143
138	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.136
=139	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.134
=139	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.134
=139	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.134
142	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.133
143	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.126
144	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.124
145	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.110
146	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.105
147	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.104
148	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.103
149	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.092
=150	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.091
=150	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.091
152	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.087
153	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.086
=154	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.085
=154	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.085
156	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.082
=157	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.080
=157	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.080
159	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.076
160	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.073
161	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.054
162	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.050
163	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.049
164	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.047
165	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.045
166	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.044
167	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.043
=168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.042
=168	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.042
=168	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.042
171	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.041
172	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.032
173	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.024
174	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.020
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.009

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.797
2Uruguay0.740
3Denmark0.710
4Costa Rica0.698
5Slovenia0.694

Lowest

175Eritrea0.009
174United Arab Emirates0.020
173Saudi Arabia0.024
172Qatar0.032
171Iran0.041

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.318. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
142values changed, of 175 in both
65 · 77rose · fell
33unchanged

Rose most

Bhutan0.143 → 0.308+0.165
Nepal0.148 → 0.229+0.081
Thailand0.121 → 0.197+0.076
Maldives0.140 → 0.211+0.071
Taiwan0.580 → 0.630+0.050

Fell most

South Korea0.587 → 0.514−0.073
Kenya0.295 → 0.249−0.046
Türkiye0.403 → 0.358−0.045
Mauritania0.177 → 0.152−0.025
North Macedonia0.392 → 0.369−0.023

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2008.
154 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.134. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 175 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
175 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download participatory-democracy-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2008). Participatory Democracy Index, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/2008

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Participatory Democracy Index, 2007
175 countries
The year after ›
Participatory Democracy Index, 2009
175 countries
All of them
Participatory Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

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